Timebound
by Shadowmage97
Summary: She really didn't expect him to take out his Susanoo and start shooting big-ass burning arrows at her. (Timetravel)
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Naruto.**

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><p><em>"Sometimes, Life might give second chances because maybe Time wasn't ready for the first one."<em>

_- Anonymous_

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><p>Sakura ran. She leapt branch to branch, making sure to land lightly so as not to leave a trail for trackers. Running was all she seemed to be doing nowadays. She and Naruto where the last survivors of the once mighty Konohagakure.<p>

Narrowly avoiding a high branch, she swore. _Damn that Sasuke!_

After her former teammate had learned the truth of the Uchiha massacre from Itachi, he had gone mad with anger.

Setting out to destroy Konoha and everything Konoha represented was his new goal. Luckily, Naruto being Naruto, confronted him. Convincing Sasuke to calm down and that all the blame lay in Danzo and the elders, Naruto had managed to bring Sasuke home.

Sakura had been so happy. Naruto was safe. Konoha was safe. And Sasuke was home. What else could go wrong?

It turned out a lot could go wrong. Two weeks after Sasuke had returned, he killed the Anbu guard assigned to him and had set out to kill the elders. Their bodies were found the next morning and, God, the village had been in an uproar. Sasuke had disappeared once again, destroying the fragile hope Sakura had kept alive all these years.

Two years had passed with no sign of Sasuke and the people of Konoha had begun to relax, letting their guard down.

That had been their downfall.

In retrospect, they should have seen this coming. Sasuke had always been spiteful, one slight against him and he'd hold it against you until he got his revenge...

They should have known he was just biding his time, waiting for the right moment to strike. And strike he did. He and hundreds of Oto nin struck so suddenly, that the civilian population of Konoha was nearly wiped out in that one attack. Remaining survivors were sent to neighboring villages while Konoha prepared for war. The blow to Konohagakure ninja ranks was so devastating that Konoha would have fallen immediately if not for the alliances they had between Suna and Kumo.

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><p>Otogakure was a intimidating village, though in actuality it was not a village but a large underground laboratory composing of various bases scattered throughout the Land of Sound.<p>

They truly took the term "Hidden Village" to a literal level. Because the village was so well hidden and its bases were spread out through most of the countries, Oto had the upper end of the war despite the sheer number of opposition they were facing.

Kumo had been forced to retract forces to deal with the threat they were facing and Sakura couldn't blame them; Konoha was practically gone. With only a small amount of Leaf Shinobi left, including, miraculously, the _entire_ Rookie nine, Konoha nin left to join Suna in the war.

That was when disaster struck. Sasuke would not stop until every single thing related in anyway to Konoha was destroyed. The Land of Fire was decimated to smoldering plains, its large trees and abundant plant life destroyed and it's civilian population dead or scattered across the other nations.

Soon Sasuke had come after the left over Konoha shinobi determined to get rid of every last one. With all the tailed beasts except Kurama in his thrall, the rage filled man began destroying everything in his path. Opposition was quickly decimated. Sakura still remembered seeing the bodies of her friends, family, even slight acquaintances.

Suna soon followed Konoha.

Death was everywhere and Sakura was sometimes surprised how used to it she had become. There was once a time when she had been squeamish at the sight of a drop of blood. It seemed so long ago that it was a distant, foggy, dream-like memory.

She jerked out of her deep thoughts.

She and Naruto had separated a few miles back to distract their pursuers. The hunter nins after them would have to separate into two groups; one after Naruto and one after Sakura.

Divide and conquer or at least that was what they wanted the enemy to believe.

Unfortunately for them, Sakura was leading her pursuers straight into a trap she had placed earlier.

Really, hunter nin from Mist village should know better to take on a Konoha nin in her own environment.

Spotting an abnormally tall tree she leapt on it and ran to the top of the tree.

The trap had begun.

As the nin came into view, she slowly began to weave her Genjutsu. After years of dealing with mad/crazy/bent on revenge Uchiha aka Itachi, Madara, and Sasuke, she had become very proficient at dispelling and making Genjutsu, though medical ninjutsu was still her area of expertise.

Sure enough the recipients of her illusion were soon fighting each other, each thinking the other was the enemy, seemingly unaware that a Genjutsu had been cast on them. She began to slip quietly away to find Naruto when a loud, thunderous crash sounded through the forest.

A large ominous dark red energy could be seen to the north and Sakura began to run. There was only one person with that type of energy. Naruto.

When Sakura arrived at the general area where she had seen the energy come from, she arrived at a large plain of burnt ground. Carefully hiding in the trees at the outskirts of the area, she saw Sasuke and a small group of his army facing a large pedestal. To her horror she realized Naruto was chained to it and Sasuke seemed to be in the process of dragging the Kyuubi out using his Tsukuyomi.

She frowned. She had to do something but what? She couldn't take on both Sasuke _and_ his soldiers. What she needed was a way to get to Naruto and release him from the chains. Quickly forming three solid clones she henged them into various shinobi she had seen before sending them out to attack Sasuke outwardly.

With Sasuke distracted she managed to sneak around the army, disguising her chakra, and managed to get to Naruto. Sakura eyed the large chains. She'd need her Chakra sword for this.

Making a large blade of chakra extending from her hand, she easily cut the chains. Catching Naruto as he fell and placing him on her back, Sakura began to run.

Naruto blinked his eyes blearily, "Sakura-chan? Stop. Leave me behind."

"Shut up, Naruto."

"No, you can't run with my weight. Save yourself."

Sakura nearly growled. "Shut up. Don't you remember the lesson Kakashi-sensei taught us. Those who break the rules are scum but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. I'm not going to abandon you, Naruto."

She felt, rather than saw, him smile.

"Love you too, Sakura-chan. I knew you'd come around eventually."

"Not like that, you idiot!" She snapped though she knew he was joking.

Naruto and a certain Hyuuga Heiress had hit it off once Naruto had managed to get his head out of his ass long enough to notice how much Hinata adored him.

A large booming sound came from behind them and it didn't sound that far away. She picked her pace.

"Sakura-chan, they took Kurama from me." Sakura would have stopped right where she was if it weren't for the crazy as hell ninja coming after her.

"What! How are you still alive?"

"They were in the process of taking him. You came just in time to stop them from taking Kurama."

"Oh, thank God." Her relief was palpable. Naruto was still alive and he still had a chance of living.

"No. It's too late. They damaged the seal badly. Kurama's chakra is overwhelming mine I'm dying."

"No. No!" Sakura's emotions were already out of control and this was too much. "Please, Naruto, you _can't_ leave me..."

"Sakura-chan, put me down here." Naruto ordered. She obeyed without a second thought, her mind trying to wrap around the fact that her closest and now only friend would be leaving her all alone.

"Listen to me, Sakura-chan. I am going to die. There is nothing you can do."

"_Naruto_."

"No, Sakura-chan, _listen to me. _I'm going to do something. Do you understand? I'm going to fix everything."

"Naruto, what are you talking about?"

Sakura was worried. Naruto had begun to mutter and whisper to himself. His movements were sluggish and slow. Most likely from blood loss. Dammit! She didn't have any of her medical supplies, the best she could do was staunch his wounds with a piece of cloth. Moving out of her grasp, Naruto, still muttering to himself, lifted his shirt showing his seal. Before she could stop him he grasped his seal and twisted, opening the seal and letting the Kyuubi chakra out.

"Naruto, Stop!" Sakura moved toward him only to be stopped by the dark chakra that was slowly consuming Naruto.

"Sakura-chan, I'm going to send you back. I want you to change everything. Save everybody."

"Naruto. I want you to calm down and try to get rid of the chakra. I'm going to try to heal you. I think I may have enough chakra sealed in my yin seal."

"_Listen to me." _Naruto's voice had changed, becoming more guttural and animal-like.

Before she could ask just what the hell he was talking about, a loud crash interrupted her.

Sasuke stood before them, red sharingan eyes flashing.

_Team 7 reunited again, _Sakura thought bitterly.

Naruto had gone silent his eyes open but unseeing. She assumed he had gone into his mind to talk to the Kyuubi. He was vulnerable in this state and Sasuke was out for his blood. She had no choice but to fight. Sasuke stared her, sharingan spinning.

"Move out of the way, Sakura."

"No. If you want Naruto you'll have to go through me." Sakura said as she pulled on her gloves.

"Hn, still as weak as ever."

Anger surged in her eyes and Sakura immediately disregarded any sympathy, kinship, and friendship she may have had for him. This monster standing in front of her didn't deserve anything from her. He had destroyed her home, her friends, and her loved ones. She _refused_ to feel anything but hatred.

"Shut up and fight, bastard!"

She lunged forward intending to strike him under his jaw. At the last minute she switched attacks, instead sending her right leg to kick him in the stomach. Sasuke dodged, the attack just barely missing him. Sending a couple of her shadow clones, imbued with enough of her chakra that Sasuke would have a hard time telling which one was really her, Sakura catapulted herself away and assessed the move.

She may have missed but that had been a test move. The sharingan could predict moves by seeing the slightest muscle tension. Because Sasuke had seen her gather a vast amount of chakra in her arm, he had arrogantly assumed that her attack was most definitely coming from her arms. Focusing on her arms, he didn't notice her discretely pumping her leg with a small amount of chakra. Enough to demolish a concrete and steel building. It was why her hit had come very close to him.

The only problem now was that he would probably expect a move similar to that and avoid it easily. Except...

Her eyes lit up. He wouldn't expect her chakra blade. Her chakra blade was purely chakra she used as a weapon. Expulsing it form her arm like a weapon, it could demolish the earth and slice through the human body very easily. She had developed it over the years, It had started out very short similar to a small dagger, but was now about three feet long.

Glancing at Sasuke, Sakura noticed him dispatching the last of her shadow clones. She'd only have a chance for one hit. She couldn't mess this up. She went through the seals for a single shadow clone and made sure to also fill the clone with enough chakra so that it would be hard to tell which was really her. Sakura and the clone leapt to the ground in front of Sasuke. He glared at her.

"What did you do? Its impossible to fool the sharingan."

"That's _my_ secret, asshole."

Both Sakuras leapt, simultaneously punching, kicking, kunai flying. Of course Sasuke managed to avoid most of the hits but because he was unable to watch both Sakuras at the same time a few of the hits landed.

As the she and the clone continued to hit and kick, Sakura prepared to release her chakra blade. At the last moment a punch from her that Sasuke was going to avoid suddenly turned into a large blade of chakra, startling Sasuke. The blade nicked his left side.

Sakura leapt away, narrowly avoiding a blow from Sasuke's katana. The cut looked shallow but Sakura knew that her blade had damaged important internal organs form that slight hit. The blade worked as good as a normal dagger but it had one special feature.

When the blade made contact with her opponent even a small cut would be dangerous. Sakura was able to send a charge of her own chakra into her opponent and damage the opponents body.

The technique was one of her true treasures. One _she_ created.

To the normal eye Sasuke looked unharmed and normal but to her well-trained medic eye, Sakura could tell Sasuke was discretely favoring his right side of his body, putting most of his weight on it. His left leg looked limp and useless and his breathing was significantly much heavier.

He was also glaring at her from his perch on a branch. She could tell he was assessing more carefully now, before he had dismissed her as inconsequential but now realized he had underestimated her desire to protect Naruto.

She only needed one more hit and he was done.

What she didn't expect was for him to pull out his Susanoo and start shooting big-ass burning arrows toward her.

Barely managing to dodge, Sakura jumped out of the way only to be captured in the large skeleton's hand. And be assured dear readers, being captured in a large chakra-covered, skeletal hand was not pleasant. Not at all.

Sakura struggled in the skeletal grip, trying to find a way out to no avail. Slumping forward slightly she glared at Sasuke who looked at her with apathetic red eyes.

"Prepare to die, Sakura."

"Shut up! Don't call me by my given name, you asshole" she hissed.

He smirked.

"What are you going to do about it, _Sa-ku-r_a."

She glared at him than smirked triumphantly. She wasn't going down without a fight. She had years worth of insults for him, pent up inside of her.

"Really, Sasuke. No wonder you always had to work hard to catch up to your brother. You're pathetic."

The smirk fell from his face and his eyes glinted madly.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about my brother. You don't know anything!"

She snorted, "Please you don't deserve your brother. Look at you. Your brother wanted you to be a hero. You say you're avenging him but instead you're throwing his sacrifice away like it didn't matter."

"Shut up! Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. _Shut up!"_

Well, Sakura thought as she stared at the crazed man, it was official. He'd finally snapped.

Ironically this may have been the most emotional response she had ever seen him give.

She was already having trouble breathing as the skeletal hand squeezed her body.

God, why was she so _weak?_ She couldn't protect Naruto like he always protected her. Sure, she had improved vastly from when she was a gennin but she'd always be behind Naruto and Sasuke.

As she started to drift in and out of conscious, Sakura noticed a large amount of dark red chakra appear suddenly in her peripheral vision.

Naruto. What was he doing? She heard a faint crash and boom and the pressure on her body disappeared.

The last thing she heard before darkness enveloped her was Naruto.

"Change everything, Sakura-chan!

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><p><em>I've decided to take a short break from my first story Transmigration and start this one. The idea has been going around in my head for a few days now.<em>

_R&R please_

_ShaSha_


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Naruto.

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><p><em>"<em>_These days tired isn't even a temporary state for me anymore. Its become part of my personality."_

_Unknown_

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><p>Sakura woke up and... realized she wasn't aching anywhere. In fact she felt amazingly refreshed.<p>

Now, usually she'd embrace this as well-needed change, being on the run gave you no time to relax, but the fact remained that she'd nearly been crushed by Sasuke's Susanoo.

_Sasuke_. That ass-hole. She wanted to wring his neck every time she thought about him. An obviously large change from their a gennin days.

Ah, well. She needed to find out where she was first and then find Naruto.

Sakura opened her eyes but instead of seeing trees she was greeted by pink. Everywhere. She was in an oddly familiar bedroom. Actually, this looked disturbingly like her childhood bedroom. The one she'd had before she moved out to her own apartment.

_What in the hell?_

Perhaps Sasuke had pulled her into his Tsukuyomi and was trying to torture her. Though she had no idea how putting her in her old childhood bedroom and making her feel as if she'd waken up from three week nap was torturing.

No, the theory didn't make sense. Sasuke didn't know what her bedroom had looked like. And even if he did the Tsukuyomi couldn't have made the illusion this detailed, especially since he had never been in her room (much to the disappointment of her younger self).

Something else was going on.

Realizing she had been lying on the bed with her eyes wide open like some sort fool, Sakura sat up to get out of bed. And promptly fell down. She frowned. It felt like her balance was off.

Standing up again, more slowly this time, she reached up to push a strand of her long hair behind her ear.

Wait. Long hair? She'd cut her hair short during the chunnin exams and had kept it that way since.

Looking down at herself, she gaped.

Where the fuck where her breasts?! She had always been slender and petite (at least in her description. Ino sometimes described her as flat and short, an opinion she wholeheartedly disagreed with) but not _this_ small.

No wonder her balance was off. Her whole body was off. She was shorter and smaller than what she was used to.

"Sakura!"

She startled, the yell pulling out of her shock. Only to further increase her it. The voice was her mother's. Her mother who had died in the first invasion. Her mother whose funeral she had planned and attended.

"Sakura? Come downstairs already. You have school in fifteen minutes!"

_School!? _ Was she really younger again?

Sakura tried to recollect the moments after she had been captured by Sasuke. Because the Susanoo's hand was squeezing her, her observations of her surrounding area had been vague and unfocused. But she remembered Naruto getting up and that the Kyuubi's chakra had been flickering in and out of her field of vision.

He had ordered her to change everything.

And before that!

When she had been carrying him on her back, he had muttered on about doing something and he had said _I'm going to send you back. I want you to change everything. _But she'd thought he had been hallucinating since he had lost a lot of blood.

Was this what he had meant? Had Naruto somehow managed to send her back in time?

All the clues pointed at that conclusion but she couldn't be sure. Sakura had sinking feeling that Sasuke was mixed in the situation some way. She couldn't do anything without further basis on where and when she was so she would act as the current time period she was in dictated. From what she could tell she was twelve again. Her old red quipao dress were hanging of her doorknob courtesy of her mother.

Sakura wrinkled her nose in distaste. She needed to find a new outfit quick. Her tastes had been odd back then.

After trying to get up again and failing, Sakura decided that to day she'd stay in. This way she could reconnaissance to find out exactly _when_ she was. If that made any sense.

Crawling back onto her bed, she waited for her mother to come check up on her.

Five minutes later a knock sounded on her door, her mother opening it enough to poke her head in.

"Sakura? Are you alright?" Sakura inwardly winced. The last time she had seen her mother, the woman had been deathly still, no longer the strong, vibrant woman Sakura had known her to be.

The pink-haired girl shook her head to get rid of the morbid thoughts. That didn't matter now, Naruto had given them another chance and this time she wouldn't let her mother or anyone else die prematurely.

Mebuki, believing the head-shake was the answer to her question, opened the door wider and walked in with a worried expression on her face. Placing her hand on Sakura's head, she frowned.

"You _do_ feel rather hot."

Sakura hid her smile. It seemed childish but she missed the feeling of being pampered like this.

Her smile disappeared as soon as Mebuki left the room and came back with an armload of blankets.

Tucking Sakura in so firmly that she could only move her feet, Mebuki stood up and informed the woman turned child that she would be going to work and would be back at her regular time and that under no circumstances was Sakura allowed to leave the house. Then the slightly older woman promptly left the room to get ready for work.

Waiting for her mother to leave, Sakura began to feel warm and drowsy from the amount of blankets covering her. She soon fell into an uneasy sleep.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p>Waking up hours later, Sakura struggled out of her cocoon of blankets she was wrapped in.<p>

Feeling more comfortable with the younger version of her body that she was now in, she carefully made her way to the kitchen. Everything in the house was as she'd remembered.

The entire situation was surreal.

Sakura decided that she needed to check on her skills. She needed to assess what level she was at now so that she could improve even quicker. Grabbing a glass of water and an apple, she headed back to her room.

Stretching to warm up her muscles, the young girl began to form basic Taijutsu katas. To her horror her body had begun to tire after only two hours. She knew she had greatly lacking in the physical department at this age but this was absolutely horrifying.

How had she even survived to make it past gennin? She should have been a bloody smear on the ground at the tender age of twelve.

Giving up on assessing her meager physical skills, Sakura sat down in lotus position and began concentrating on her chakra. When she had been young she had had amazing control but a pitifully small chakra level so she expected a lot of hours put in to improving in this particular area as well. To her astonishment her chakra felt the same as it did before she had been sent careening through time. She didn't even need to further probe her chakra.

The level was Jounin maybe advanced Jounin. She smiled broadly. Hah! That was one aspect she didn't need to worry about. What a relief!

Though, it was odd that she kept her old chakra levels. Had Naruto done this on purpose?

Now that she had a clearer head, she suspected that he had used a seal that they had found years ago in the ruins of the Whirlpool country. There was no other explanation.

The seal was described itself as a time-travel seal but because of its vague, sketchy, and highly complicated details and because it required a large, inhumane amount of chakra, she had dismissed it as unusable and risky. Naruto had agreed but had kept the scroll in case it fell into the wrong hands.

He had been the sealing master after Jiraiya so the complicated sealing jargon had made sense to him in a way it couldn't for Sakura, who had only the basics of sealing down.

Naruto must have used the last of his chakra and the Kyuubi's chakra on the seal.

Her heart clenched at the fate of her best friend. Sakura wouldn't let anything happen to him in this time-line. Sai and Kakashi as well.

This time _she _would be the one to take care of her boys.

Sakura shook her head to clear the thoughts. She'd have time to plan later, first she had make sure if she really was in the past.

She did believe she it to be true, but as a ninja she had been trained to always make sure her facts were correct. The chakra situation was good. Now she could rest her doubts about her location.

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><p>Standing up, she went to grab a large sweater from the back of her closet and a small backpack with the little ninja supplies her twelve year-old self had possessed, She'd need the sweater for where she was going. The climate was rather cold for humans, most likely because of the high altitude.<p>

During the few years she had been on the run with Naruto, she had come upon the summoning contract for Bird Summons and had signed it. She had made many good friends and was determined to rekindle the friendships. And she needed a certain old geezer's input on her situation

Sakura obviously wasn't contracted to them _yet, _but when she formed the hand signs for a summoning she would be transported there because when a person formed a summoning hand signs for an animal that they weren't contracted to, they would be summoned to said animal's kingdom instead.

She stood at the center of her room and performed the hand signs: Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram!

The floor of her bedroom disappeared and Sakura fell. The wind rushed by her, blinding her slightly. There seemed to be no bottom in sight.

Suddenly, she abruptly stopped free-falling, giant claws grabbing her shoulders. Sakura was carried away, seemingly to the west.

She was unworried about the Bird carrying her, it was most likely one of the sentry guards that flew around the kingdom.

Soon large, floating islands were peeking out from the clouds. Each island appeared to be large, green and flattened at the top. Sakura knew that many nests resided on each island. Each Island belonged to a Bird tribe. There were six tribes in total. The Rocs, Owls, Ravens, Hawks, Phoenixes and the Eagles.

The island nests surrounded an even larger island in a circle. The Main Land, Sakura knew, was called Al-Reeh. It was where the King and Queen lived and also were meetings were held.

The King and Queen were not in any tribe because their job was to keep peace between the tribes. Anytime a King or Queen were chosen, they would be forced to renounce their original clan and become clan-less.

In other words because the tribes often argued amongst themselves like squabbling children the king and queen were forced to act like the "parents".

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><p>The Bird carrying her neared the ring of floating islands, then flew right past them, towards Al-Reeh.<p>

Dropping her down near the edge of the island where the entry gate was, the Bird landed next to her changing into its human form.

A tall bearded man stood in front of Sakura. She frowned. He looked awfully familiar.

"You know you kind of look like Tsubasa." He stiffened.

"How do you know of my brother, human?"

"Brother? Oh! You must be Tobu! Wow! I didn't expect to see you here! And don't worry, I'll explain everything as soon as I see Tsubasa and Hikari-chan."

The man looked at her as if she was crazy.

She inwardly grinned. Tobu was as fun to annoy as his brother was.

He glared at her. "Speak up now girl. You are in our lands. Anything can happen to you here." He grinned bloodthirstily. "and no-one would know."

"Ah, but what if I have vital information to tell you? What will happen then? And I won't speak until I see Tsubasa and Hikari-chan."

The man towered over her. "How did you come to address the King and Queen so familiarly?"

"Oh, we're good friends. Or at least we were. Will be. Argh! Stupid time travel tenses! Just take me to to the glade. I promise I'll explain everything."

"Human! you have no right to command me. I can tear you to pieces easily. I advise you to speak soon."

Sakura remembered that because she had been a treasured friend to the Birds in the future, she had been given the mark of Saheeb. The mark indicated that she was friend to all the Birds. It was tied to the receiver's chakra and would never fade. If the friendship was betrayed, the mark would darken.

To Bird-man's astonishment, Sakura pulled at her large sweater to check on her shoulder.

"What are you doing, gir- Thats impossible! How can _you_ bear the mark of Saheeb?" He said this in such an incredulous tone that Sakura was offended.

"_Excuse me!_ What exactly is wrong with me?!" He sputtered incoherently.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Never mind we're wasting time. You've seen that the mark hasn't darkened, proving that I am not an enemy, so take me to Tsubasa, please."

He turned without a word, motioning for her to follow him.

The pair passed through the entry gates, heading toward the middle of the island. They soon neared the gathering area. It seemed like, Tobu had already sent ahead the news. Either that or Myoga was behind this. Knowing him, he probably knew why she was here. Hell, he probably knew that she'd come here before she knew.

She shook her head ruefully. Sakura had missed the old Bird-man and his mischievous personality. The seer had wormed his way into her heart with his grandfatherly personality and sense of humor. He was easily someone she could get along with. It helped that he was the main advisor and held a great deal of authority as well.

She and Tobu entered the large arena. The place was an intimidating sight. The arena was a large plain surrounded by huge trees. Birds flocked the branches, surrounding her, whispering and talking amongst each other. It didn't help that many of the Birds were amazingly large. Much larger than a normal bird.

If she hadn't already gone through this when she had first signed the Bird summoning contract, she would have been pissing her pants by now.

An extraordinary large snowy Owl stood directly in front of her with smaller barn Owl next to him.

She grinned and pulled a Naruto-esque move."Hey Tsubasa, Hikari-chan! How are you guys?"

Once upon a time, she would have been much more formal and polite but Naruto had definitely rubbed off on her. That and she secretly loved the stir she was causing among the Birds. They were all nosy busybodies.

As Sakura had spoken, The Birds had fallen into a stunned silence, most likely at her casual address of the King and Queen. And as soon as she had finished, they had burst into a cacophony of loud whispers and ruffling feathers, whispering amongst themselves.

She could tell that the King and Queen were surprised as well though they did a better job of hiding it.

"Silence!" Tsubasa's loud, commanding voice impressively silenced everyone at once.

He then turned his head toward her. "How do you know of our names, child? You speak as if you know us and my brother tells me you bear the mark of Saheeb."

Sakura was sure that the Birds would have started talking again if not for the firm glare Tobu had given the crowd.

"Well, its because I _do _know at least I did or will know you."

She was met with blank unamused stares.

A deadly looking Bird with only one eye and a large scar across his face, spoke harshly. "She plays tricks on us, thinking to deceive us! I say we kill her and save ourselves the trouble."

Considering the amount of agreements the other Birds made, Sakura decided it would be best to ask for Myoga.

"Tsubasa, Myoga can explain everything. Because I'm not the best at explaining a situatioon as confusing as this."

The large Owl stared at her with large, golden, unblinking eyes. "Very, well. Toru. Call for Myoga."

A large Hawk flew off standing behind the king. Sakura startled. She hadn't seen him. Damn, she was off her game. What kind of ninja wouldn't notice him?

As Sakura waited, she noticed the smaller barn Owl, seemed to be fidgeting, her feathers ruffling impatiently. Sakura grinned, knowing Hikari she was extremely curious about the newcomer who claimed she knew her. Hikari didn't have the same patience Tsubasa had.

Gasps and murmurs erupted amongst the Birds when Toru arrived with a familiar old wise Owl in tow.

Sakura knew it was due to the fact that the old Bird was flying.

Hmph. The old geezer had probably seen a vision of her giving him the recipe for a healing salve to fix his wings in the other timeline. Of course _she_ was the only one who knew this.

The landed in the arena between Sakura and the King and Queen.

She waved. "Hey Myoga! How are you?"

Right on cue he replied, "I'm doing great, little Sakura. And I have to say, that poultice you recommended or rather _had_ recommended, has done wonders for the old wings."

Her grin widened at the astonished looks on the Birds faces. They sure hadn't seen this familiar greeting coming.

"Do you know the girl, Myoga?"

"Of course, your Majesty. She is good friend from the past. Or rather the future. Both actually."

The old Owl spoke the sentence as if it made perfect sense. Sakura knew he just enjoyed confusing others and increasing the rumors that he was mad.

"Speak clearly, Myoga. We have no patience for this. The girl bears the Mark of Saheeb, a mark that can only be given by the king. And I do not remember seeing this girl."

Before Myoga could open his beak, Sakura stepped in. "I'm from the future. At least I think so."

"You are, dear girl. Your friend sent you here purposely." Myoga assured her.

"Good, I wasn't sure if Sasuke 's sharingan was involved and I was in some kind of amazingly detailed illusion or not."

The King ruffled his feathers impatiently. "Explain, Myoga."

"My mother is coming home soon, so I'll leave you to explain things, Myoga." Sakura grabbed the backpack she had thrown down on the ground earlier.

Tsubasa turned his toward her. "You will go nowhere until your presence has been explained."

"Do not worry, old friend. She means no harm and is a great asset to our people."

"Myoga-."

"Tsubasa. I have seen her and I know her heart. Leave her be. You will receive your answers in due time."

The King paused. "Very well."

"Good. And Sakura before you end up somewhere else, here."

Myoga threw the summoning contract for the Birds.

Ignoring the horrified whispering of the Birds (they'd get over it after Myoga explained everything), she caught it then deftly signed it with her blood before sealing it away.

"Thanks, Myoga." Forming the hand-signs required, she appeared back in her room.

Putting the large sweater back in her closet, she placed the glass of water in the kitchen and crawled back into bed.

Sakura had a long day ahead of her tomorrow and she didn't have to worry about being caught in a genjutsu.

She went to sleep with a smile on her face.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p><em>I am really really sorry for those few who have showed interest in my pathetic story. Like I said on my profile, I update sporadically and I haven't had time to write anything for while. This means I winged this chapter. I just rushed. I have the general idea of what I want from this story but this particular chapter was written messily.<em>

_Being the lazy-ass I am, I decided to update it anyway._

_Please tell me what you think of it._

_R&R_

_Thanks,_

_ShaSha_


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Naruto.

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><p>"<em>Its been more than seven years since I last watched Shrek. And I'm still having trouble coping with the fact that a donkey fucked a dragon."<em>

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><p>Unfortunately, while she slept well, Sakura woke quite late for school the next day.<p>

Putting on the odd quipao dress of her youth, she grabbed an apple and made sure to yell a goodbye to her mother. Sakura decided to look into finding her own apartment after the chunnin exams.

It would be hard for her mother to understand, but Sakura was, in reality, a grown woman. Not only would it be easier on her mother (because of her ninja status, she could be called on a mission at any given moment and so came in at odd times) but it would also easier to take care of her boys as well.

All of them, from Naruto to Kakashi, had always hated the hospital so she had, in a way, become their personal healer. They just wouldn't stop dropping by her apartment and after a while she had stopped protesting.

Sakura still planned on being a medic nin because why the hell not? Her entire style was based on and around medical ninjutsu. It'd be stupid to abandon the only thing that gave her an advantage here. And anyway, she'd probably put a lot more effort on her Taijutsu. Her monster strength mixed with excellent taijutsu would be deadly force.

She grinned. She planned to be _kick-ass _earlier this time around. No more fainting and squealing girlishly for her anymore.

As she turned to the road that led to the academy, her heart pounded and her stomach lurched uncomfortably. How would she do this? Was she ready to face her much younger, much more innocent and much more alive comrades?

Her heart nearly stopped as the door to a very familiar flower shop opened and an equally familiar blonde stepped out.

"Ino!" Sakura immediately covered her mouth. She hadn't meant for that to slip out.

Ino turned towards her.

"Fore-head. What are you yelling about? And don't bother bringing any attention to yourself, your large fore-head already does that."

Sakura stopped, taken aback. What was up with Ino's attitude? That was completely uncalled for.

Then she remembered the ridiculous rivalry they'd had when they were younger.

Well, she was going to rid such ridiculous thoughts from Ino's mind.

Honestly, the idea of fawning over Sasuke after everything was the most far-fetched idea she'd ever heard. She'd rather go back and face Tsunade on that day when Sakura and Naruto had hidden all of the woman's booze.

She smiled slightly. Naruto had been sure that they were going to die that day.

Shaking her head from her thoughts, she faced Ino who was eying her oddly.

"Hey, Fore-head, you alright?"

"Er- yes, Ino. Listen. I've been thinking. We're going to be kunoichis soon and we're going to be in danger constantly. It was really silly to give up our friendship over a boy and I want us to be friends again."

Ino eyed her distrustfully. "How do I know this isn't a plan to take Sasuke from me."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh, for God's sake, Ino. I give up on Sasuke! You can have him and his millions of Uchiha babies."

There was no way she was becoming a housewife like she'd wanted to be when she was younger.

After all the danger and excitement she'd gone through the idea of doing as mundane as that was... horrifyingly boring.

She was taken from her thoughts by Ino throwing herself onto her in a hug.

"Ino?"

"Oh, Sakura. I thought I'd never hear say that. Now that you've admitted I'm superior to you-"

"Woah! Superior to _me_. As if. I'm going to be the best shinobi there ever was."

Ino would go into the shinobi business. There was no question about it. She was from a major clan in Konoha and clan heiress at that.

But if Sakura somehow directed their old rivalry into something more productive, then Ino would feel the urge to improve her ninja skills and thus wouldn't die as young as she did before.

"Hell no! I'm going to be the best shinobi, Fore-head. And when that day comes, you better admit my superiority."

"Yeah, yeah sure."

"Why are you saying that so nonchalantly?!"

"Race you to the academy!"

"Fore-head, you cheater! Get back here! You started before me!"

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p>Apparently, according to the date on the board, she <em>hadn't<em> come on the day of team selections. Rather, a few weeks before it.

Ah, well. This worked out to her advantage. She could work on her taijutsu and by volunteering at the hospital now she could show off a small bit of her healing skills with that excuse.

Sakura and Ino had arrived a little early and much to Ino's delight, Sakura's pleasure, and Sasuke's horror, Sasuke had been the only other one in the class.

Sakura had pleasantly spent the last few minutes watching as an irritated Sasuke attempted to shake an eager Ino off him.

Yes, this was pure entertainment.

After a few more minutes, she decided to take a nap. Might as well sleep when ever she could.

Though her younger body didn't need any sleep, her mind still thought that she hadn't slept well in weeks.

It was a bit like psychosomatic pain, a type of pain that was imagined by the brain and was also called phantom pains.

Except her mind was thinking her body was tired because, just a day ago it _was_ tired.

Students suddenly began arriving, bringing with them their loud voices and clunking footsteps. She still couldn't be bothered to lift her head up.

Then suddenly a loud, familiar voice addressed her. "Hey, Sakura-chan! Can I sit next to you? Please? I won't bother you."

She immediately sat up in surprise and delight. Naruto!

"Of course, Naruto."

Sakura couldn't help herself as she beamed at him. Her brother in everything but blood was here. He was her own little pocket of sunshine.

"Really?" He seemed shocked and hesitant.

Oh, yeah... She'd been a real bitch back then. Of course no one had been kind to Naruto during this time period. But still, they had no excuse.

She smiled warmly. "We might be teammates and we're all going to be ninja soon. I want to get along with my future comrades. Your always welcome to sit next to me, Naruto."

It wasn't until he face had turned bright red as he sat next to her did she remember his crush on her.

She'd have to build Hinata's confidence up, give a few well-needed kicks to Naruto's ass and introduce the two. Sakura knew for a fact that the two had been a beautiful couple.

And until then she'd just let Naruto know that he was her brother and she his sister.

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><p><em>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<em>

* * *

><p><em>Hello,<em>

_Sorry for those who are reading this. I'm juggling this story and __Life As Hermione__ simultaneously and its hard to find time for both. This story is probably going to be a slow going so it'll take a while to finish._

_Please review and tell me your thoughts!_

_Thanks,_

_ShaSha_


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Naruto.

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><p>"<em>Giving gum to a friend at school is like doing a drug deal. You didn't hear anything, see anything and you definitely didn't get it from me."<em>

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><p>People usually thought that medical ninjutsu wasn't hard. Materialize your chakra? Easy for a ninja. What else was needed?<p>

Contrary to popular belief medical ninjutsu was not as easy as many assumed. Which was why until Tsunade Senju came along there were not a lot of medical advancements.

No one really realized that medical ninjutsu was all about precision and control and knowledge. It took amazing control just to isolate your chakra on to one spot (your hands) and even more to heal a person. And the immense amount of knowledge you had to memorize and understand was enough to send most people running.

To be an amazing medic-nin you needed excellent, no _magnificent_, chakra control and extensive knowledge of how the body functioned.

You didn't just assume because you had good chakra control you were, by default, a medical-nin. Without prior knowledge an untrained healer would kill their patient easily.

Because medic ninjutsu took years to master, true masters like Tsunade weren't that common. As it was, once Tsunade had left Konoha, medical advancements and the improvements that had come with the Senju medical genius had come to stagnant halt.

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><p>Sakura planned to revolutionize the medical world. And maybe make a bit of cash on the side.<p>

Which was why she was now wandering the upper-class area of Konoha. The upper-class area was where mostly the rich merchants, nobility, and the occasional ninja clan like the Hyuuga lived.

She was here to see the daughter of a rich upper-class family of traders. Kasumi Nishimura would be six years old currently. The last time Sakura had seen her was when she was eight.

The child had suffered of lung cancer at a young age and by the time she was eight, she was at death's doorstep.

Sakura and Tsunade had cured her within a week, with only a few sessions and treatments. The act had endeared the two women to the Nishimura family and had gained Tsunade many allies from the civilian factor as well.

If Sakura planned on taking Danzo down she would need as many politically-inclined allies as she could get.

Approaching the large, gated manor, she nodded politely at the guards.

"I'm here to see Nishimura-san, please."

Eying her curiously (_what business would a little girl have here?_) one of the guards ushered her in.

Sitting down on the plush seats of the foyer, Sakura waited.

Soon a maid beckoned her towards what Sakura knew was Nishimura Sanosuke's office.

The large, intimidating man towered over even when he was sitting and if Sakura hadn't been a capable ninja she would have been worried about being left alone with him.

As it was, if she wanted to she could crush him easily.

"Exactly what business do you have here, child."

"Nishimura-san, I would like to make a bargain of sorts with you."

He raised an eyebrow, looking amused.

Sakura really wanted to punch his face in... but she could understand where he was coming from.

A twelve year old girl making business bargain with one of Konoha's most influential traders and leader in the civilian factor of the council.

Laughable.

"What sort of... _bargain_?" He spoke as if he was just humoring her.

"If you give me 100,000 yen, I will cure your daughter. And by cure I mean completely get rid of her illness and restore her to full health."

He eyed her, the humor gone from his face.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to trust a twelve year old child with my daughters safety when healers older and more experienced than you couldn't do anything?"

"I understand your concern but I assure you, I am an excellent healer and not only that I am charging you much less than what a normal healer would charge. You've got nothing to lose here. A good deal and if I don't make good on my part then you have every right to take your money and kick me out. I _know _I can heal her."

Sakura was playing on his weakness here. The man cared about his daughter and wanted her to be better and she was dangling an excellent deal right in front of him. No self-proclaimed business man would deny that.

Suddenly the man stood up, startling Sakura.

He beckoned her over.

"I will allow you to examine her. Make what you will of the illness. Rest assured that if harm befalls her, I will not stop until I get my revenge."

Sakura sweatdropped. Why the dramatic proclamations?

Nonetheless, she followed him out the office, down the hall and into a pretty bedroom clearly designed for a young female child.

On the large bed, a small figure laid completely still, swallowed by the blankets on top of her.

"Papa? Is that you?"

The small little figure struggled to sit up and a maid immediately rushed over to help.

"Be careful Kasumi. Do not strain yourself." Nishimura-san's voice was full of concern as he gazed down at his daughter.

Sakura decided this would be the best time to step in.

"Hello. Kasumi-san right?"

The little girl nodded.

She hid slightly behind her father, glancing shyly at Sakura every so often.

"My name is Sakura and I'm here to make you feel better, OK?"

Gesturing for Nishimura-san to move near the door, Sakura settled down next to the child.

"Sa-Sakura-san?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you can help me?"

Sakura smiled at the young girl. "I'm absolutely positive."

Placing the empty vials she brought with her, Sakura turned toward the little girl.

"OK. I'm just going to check on how far along your illness is."

Once the child laid down and slipped off her shirt, Sakura prepared her chakra scalpel.

"I'm going to put you to sleep for a little bit, OK sweetie?"

The child nodded as if she was used to such procedures. And Sakura knew she was.

If Sakura recalled correctly, before she had healed Kasumi, the Nishimuras had been fooled and conned by many not-so-well-meaning healers.

As the girl was put to sleep, Sakura made a perfect, barely there incision with her chakra scalpel, sending her chakra towards the girl's lungs.

Examining the girl's lungs closely, she made note of important factors.

It seemed the disease wasn't that far ahead as it had been last time. No, only a small patch of her right lung was infected by cancerous cells but they would most likely multiply again and again, forming more tumors, before ultimately killing the girl.

She could easily heal it at this stage. Directing her chakra toward the patch of rapidly multiplying cancer cells, she easily covered the patch, isolating it from the rest of the lungs. The cancerous cells would be unable to affect the rest of the lungs this way.

The next few steps were very precise. It wasn't an overly difficult procedure (as long as you had perfect chakra control) but it required immense concentration and precision.

She would have to destroy the cells completely then form new ones for the lung. First she had to have a sample of the healthy cells in order to replicate the cells perfectly so the Kasumi's body wouldn't reject it.

Using her chakra, she took a few samples from the healthy part of Kasumi's lungs.

Keeping her chakra isolating the cancerous cells, she retracted her hands and opened her eyes.

She made sure to place the sample in a container so that she could examine them later.

She stretched her back before standing up and facing Kasumi's father.

"Nishimura-san. I will have to come back one more time in order to fully heal her."

He frowned at her. "I thought you said you would heal her."

Sakura held up her hands in a placating manner.

"Yes, but you daughter has cancer. I need to replace the cells that have been affected with new ones and I need to examine Kasumi's healthy cells so that I can replicate the cells perfectly. It'll just take a few hours."

He nodded. "Do you need anything else?"

"Actually now that you mention it..."

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p>After a few hours of examining Kasumi's healthy cells and painstakingly replicating them in Nishimura-san's office, Sakura was ready to completely heal the little girl.<p>

Heading toward the room, she put Kasumi back to sleep and made a new incision exactly where the old one had been.

Sending her chakra back again, she observed the isolated area. The malignant cells were multiplying quickly and were trying to push past her chakra boundary to no avail.

Sakura sent a quick burst of chakra completely destroying the cells before immediately healing that area with new healthy cells.

Taking a minute to observe her handiwork, Sakura noted that the lungs looked very healthy. Not a cancer cell to be seen.

She pulled back and nodded at Nishimura. "All done. She's perfectly healthy now. I advise you to continue to feed her healthy nutritious food and make sure she gets her exercise. She should be up and playing by the end of the week."

Packing her meager medical supplies, she turned back to Nishimura. "I'll be back in a week to check her progress and to collect my money."

The large man stood up and nodded.

"If this works you will be paid greatly, I promise you that."

"Don't worry. It will."

Sakura left the huge manor in a good mood, a little extra money in her pocket, and a feeling of accomplishment.

Now she just needed to do one more thing before heading home.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p>Sakura knew Naruto like the back of her hand.<p>

She knew he liked orange because the color was bright, flashy and attention catching.

She also knew that once he considered you his friend, you were his friend for life.

She knew he resorted to pranks when he was younger because he wanted _some_ kind of attention. Whether it was good or bad didn't matter at that time. He just want someone to acknowledge him.

Which was why he persisted in pursuing Sakura as a child. Sakura had been one of the few of their age who gave him a strong amount of attention The fact that most of that 'attention' from the young, immature Sakura had been a lot of yelling and a few punches for 'perverted' acts didn't seem to matter to Naruto.

Here was this person, his age, who was actually not ignoring him. Sure Most of the rookie 12 hadn't been mean like some of the civilian villagers but Sakura was the one who _actively_ interacted with him.

When Sakura finally realized why Naruto had latched on to her as kids she had wished so badly that she could have changed the way she'd acted toward him. Now she had that chance.

Last of all she knew that while he did love ramen, he mostly ate it when he was younger because he couldn't get anything better. Either because of the discrimination of vendors or because he couldn't afford it.

It was why she was now standing in front of his apartment door with two bags of groceries in each hand.

Placing the bags in her right hand down, Sakura knocked a few times before waiting.

Before long Naruto opened the door.

"Sa-Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?"

She elbowed past him into his home. "Making dinner for the two of us."

Naruto followed her into the kitchen, scratching his head in a confused manner

"But why?"

She began placing the items she'd need to make fried rice on the counter and the items she didn't need in the fridge or cupboards.

"Because we're teammates and hopefully friends, Naruto."

She reached out to place the sugar in a cabinet next to the fridge.

Unnerved by the silence that was Naruto, Sakura turned just in time to see Naruto wiping something off his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Naruto? Are you OK?"

She approached him worriedly.

"Naruto?"

He looked up at her, his large blue eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"A-are we friends, Sakura-chan?"

_Oh, Naruto._

"Of course we are Naruto. We-"

She was cut off by the blonde boy throwing himself on her in a hug.

"Na-Naruto!? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Sakura-chan. I'm just happy, you know. I didn't know we were friends. I've never had one before."

Sakura hugged him back. "Well, I'm your friend now. For better or for worse."

He nodded, pulling back.

"Go clean up Naruto. I'll start dinner."

"OK. But Sakura-chan won't your mom be worried about you?"

"No, I told her I'd be out the entire day."

Sakura turned towards the kitchen again. She had some delicious fried rice to make for herself and her best friend.

"Hey, Sakura-chan how do you know where everything is?" Naruto shouted from his room.

Sakura sweatdropped.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

* * *

><p><em>Hey! I'm back!<em>

_Remember to tell me what you think so far._

_Thanks,_

_ShaSha_


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Naruto.

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><p>"<em>I display ninja like skills when my phone is in danger of falling yet for some reason I am unable to stop myself from tripping over air. "<em>

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><p>Training at the hospital was a treat.<p>

Of course everything was a review of what she had long since mastered but the dull monotonous schedule of her 'training' was rather relaxing.

And that, Sakura realized grimly, was the problem.

Pride. A false sense of security. She'd seen many great shinobi fall for it.

It was like a disease.

How many of Konoha's best shinobi had been killed or badly wounded in the Sand invasion the first time around merely because they had been lulled into the false sense of security the peace after the Third Shinobi war provided?

Too many.

Sakura had not survived an entirety of a war to fall like that.

A few hours a week wasn't going to work. She'd need to up her training secretly, outside of the academy. Starting with stamina training.

The pink-haired shinobi-yet-not made her way out the door early the next morning, leaving her sleeping mother a note.

The first thing she'd need would be chakra-weights like the kind Lee-san used.

Such things were located in the weapons shop.

Which coincidentally was in the shopping district of Konoha, which meant... SHOPPING TRIP!

Sakura gleefully patted the obscenely large amount of money she'd gotten from Sanosuke Nishimura for healing his daughter. It was more than amount she had asked for... but no one said she was a saint Who was she to deny such a gift?

And to think the heavy pouch she had with her was only a very small part of what she'd been given...

Ah, Life was good. All she'd need was dango after her shopping trip and all would be fine.

Entering the busy shopping district. Sakura practically floated from store to store.

God, it'd had been ages since she'd gone shopping.

She eyed the merchandise in windows with a certain girlish delight.

Whoever said a kunoichi couldn't be girly was a flat out liar or a civilian.

Noticing a weapons shop near the apothecary that ninja went to get things like soldier pills and other items for missions, Sakura entered.

And was immediately dazzled by the large amount of oversized weapons near the back of the store.

They were _beautiful_.

She should probably get her head checked for her love of all things shiny, sharp, and ridiculously oversized but the expressions on her opponents when they saw a small pink-haired girl pulling out a weapon that could put Zabuza's sword, the Kubikiribōchō, to shame was worth it.

Perusing through the large weapons put on display, she turned and the most amazing sight met her eyes.

The largest sword she'd ever seen (and she'd participated in a war, she'd seen many odd weaponry,) was on the right wall all by itself, taking up a large amount of space.

The sword was lethal and beautifully designed. The blade had a pure black hilt and had a guard with a four-petaled design made of silver. The sheathe was just as black as the hilt with a single grey string string tied around it. And best of all it was huge and sharp.

She could have sworn she heard a chorus singing Halleluiah.

Turning to the man running the store, she asked. "Excuse me, Oji-san? I'd like to buy that sword over there."

The storekeeper eyed the sword then looked over her small form and then snorted mockingly.

"Sorry, kid but I don't think you can handle-"

He was cut off as Sakura marched up to thee sword, lifted it with long-practiced ease and placed it on her shoulder as if she was merely holding a twig. A_h, Jounin chakra how I love you so. Thank god you came back with me._

She gave him a beaming smile, knowing the whole "Innocent-looking little girl holding a large as hell weapon as easily as twig" would freak him out.

"How much is this beauty, Oji-san?"

"On-one hundred yen."

"I'll take it, do you do deliveries?"

"I- yes, we do." Visibly pulling himself together. The man handed her sheet paper.

"I'll have it wrapped up and sent to your place in a week. Please write your name and address down."

"Mhmm. Ok There you go! Do you happen to have weights here? Preferably the chakra enhanced ones."

The chakra enhanced ones were better. Instead buying more and more as she increased the weight amount all she'd need to do was add a specific amount of chakra and it would increase.

"Yes. Would you like me to send it with the sword?"

"Nah, I'll take them now, please."

Paying for her items and leaving an awed civilian inside, Sakura cheerfully made her way to the clothing shops.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

* * *

><p>It was late in the afternoon when Sakura left the bustling shopping district, hands full of bags and a tired but happy grin on her face.<p>

Operation: FBCQ (Find Better Clothe Quick) had been a success and she'd even managed to drop by the hair salon and get her hair cut back to the shoulder-length she was used to.

Spotting a nearby bench in one of the parks close to her home, the pink-haired girl sat down, releasing her aching hands from the heavy bags.

Now she remembered why she'd always taken Naruto with her. He and his multiple clones were every shopaholic's dream.

Leaning back on the bench, she closed her eyes and relaxed, letting the wind lift her shorn hair.

Sensing a fast moving chakra heading toward her fast, Sakura opened her eyes just in time to see Shino Aburame standing before her, his hand near her face.

"Er... Shino-san?" The pink-haired girl edged away a bit.

"I apologize Haruno-san. Why? Because I seemed to have startled you in my quest to catch the Limenitis Arthemis."

Sakura glanced at his hand.

Between his fingers, fluttering gently was a pretty blue butterfly with striking red dots on each wing tip.

"Don't you mean the Red Spotted Purple butterfly?"

He turned towards her.

"Yes, I prefer to use the scientific term. I am surprised you know the name."

Sakura blinked, then smirked slyly.

"Shino-san! Do you really think so little of me?"

Amused, she noticed he was actually blushing in embarrassment. Not as unflappable as his future self.

"Eh, I'm just joking Shino-san." She said waving off his apology.

She grabbed her bags and stood up.

"Later, Shino-san. I've got to head home."

"Goodbye, Haruno-san."

"Its Sakura." She called over shoulder as she walked home.

Shino frowned thoughtfully.

Haruno Sakura was a curious enigma. She seemed to have switched personalities in two weeks. Hm...

Freeing the butterfly he'd been chasing, the Aburame left for his home.

What an odd girl.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p><em>Review, review my lovely readers.<em>

_Thanks,_

_ShaSha_


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Naruto.

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><p>"<em>That moment when I flex my foot wrong and it cramps up and I'm just like; This is it. This is how it ends."<em>

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><p>Dressed in dark blue pants and a light blue t-shirt, Sakura lay facedown in the ground.<p>

She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry at how pathetic her physical condition was.

Barely nine miles in and she'd already collapsed.

She knew she had been bad when she was young but _this_? This was just depressing.

Although in her defense, she _did_ had 45 Ibs on each arm and 55 Ibs on each leg.

Painfully rolling over onto her back Sakura forced herself to begin her crunches.

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8..._

She had a little less than a month before Academy graduation so if she kept this kind of stamina and endurance training up she wouldn't need hold back as much.

_25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30..._

She'd already made sure that Iruka-sensei found about her hospital training so that he'd mention it in her Academy file but had decided to keep her physical training a secret. Sakura had no desire to risk Team Seven not being formed.

And for that to happen; Sasuke needed to be top of the year, Naruto in the bottom, and Sakura needed to have high intellectual scores and slightly below average physical scores.

_89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100._

Flipping back on her stomach, Sakura lifted herself up on her arms and painfully began the pushups.

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10..._

As much as Sakura wanted to help Naruto train she couldn't risk changing the team placements so she instead focused on cultivating her friendship with the blonde socially.

_22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31..._

Disregarding Naruto for the moment, Sakura focused on the bigger problem. Namely Sasuke.

As much as she wanted to blame his future counterpart's bad deeds on the younger she couldn't.

This Sasuke, while still an arrogant asshole, was still innocent and as much as Sakura hated herself for it; she still remembered the early times of Team Seven when they'd worked out a sort of camaraderie despite Sasuke's attitude, the boys' rivalry, and her silliness.

_44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50..._

Switching to one armed pushups, Sakura briefly wondered if the slight chakra she just felt was her imagination or if someone watching her.

She decided not to worry about. Many academy students used training grounds to train so she wouldn't seem suspicious.

Not only that but since she was disguising her chakra, only letting it show a little at a time each week, she couldn't afford sending her chakra out to probe for chakra signatures without arousing suspicion.

_55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62..._

What she needed to do was figure out a way to stop Orochimaru from giving Sasuke the curse mark.

Hopefully by the time the chunnin exams came, she would be somewhat ready but Sakura wasn't stupid enough to think that she could take an S-ranked missing nin of Orochimaru's caliber that easily, no matter how hard she trained in that short amount of time.

The Snake Sannin may be creep and had horrible taste in clothing but he was no slouch.

_78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86..._

Hideous taste, indeed.

Sakura visibly shuddered as she recalled the hideous purple ass-bow (as Naruto had decided to name it) Sasuke had taken to wearing after he had defected.

Although she'd been a bit too enamored with Sasuke to say so, the poor boy had looked like Orochimaru's sex toy.

_94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100._

The pink-haired girl sat up and stretched out her legs and arms out before walking toward the trap she had set earlier that day.

In the trees surrounding her, Sakura had put up many dull kunai connected to the wires criss-crossing the left half of the field.

Each time she tripped a wire, a batch of kunai would come flying toward her and her job was to dodge.

An odd way to train, yes, but she needed to learn fast evasive skills as a medic-nin and this younger body wasn't as fast or as good at dodging as her older one was.

Taking the time to tie a blind-fold around her eyes, Sakura took a deep breathe and stepped toward the booby-trapped area of the training ground.

She was sure she was in for a world of pain, no matter how dull the kunai were.

Then again, this was much easier than having three Tsunade clones throwing boulders, trees, and other heavy items at her while yelling at her to dodge.

Sakura involuntarily winced. Tsunade was an excellent teacher but damn did those six years of training hurt.

(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)

A familiar silver-haired nin sat on his haunches on a branch in training ground Three, observing the small pink-haired girl below him.

The girl had a lot of potential and clearly had the potential to be an excellent shinobi.

It was odd that he'd never heard of her. Usually prodigies (such as Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji) or potentially powerful ninja (such as Rock Lee and Uzumaki Naruto) were known among the Shinobi ranks.

Had they missed a budding prodigy? Or had she instead cleverly decided to conceal her abilities only planning to show them once she became gennin?

Both were possible options.

Noticing that she'd finished her exercises and was now standing up, he looked over at her.

Fishing out a dark blind fold, she looked straight up at the trees were the silver-haired man was sitting.

He startled.

Had she sensed him? That was impossible!

Then he noticed that she was looking more towards the right of him.

Gazing in the direction, he noticed a bunch of kunai strung up in the trees.

Looking around the trees, he noticed the same thing. The kunai were connected to wires that ran across the entire half of the training ground.

She'd trapped the place but why?

His question was answered as she wrapped the blindfold her eyes, visibly readied herself and began walking in the general direction of the trapped wires.

Evasive skills, huh?

Deciding not to stay and watch the most likely painful procedure the masked-nin left.

Hmm, if the Hokage was serious in wanting him to take on a team this year he'd have to make sure he requested for this one.

The strange pink hair was unfortunate, though.

(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)

Battered and bruised, Sakura made it home, managed to avoid her overprotective mother by going through her open window and collapsed on her bed.

Evasive training had gone just as she had expected it to.

That is to say; horribly.

But she wouldn't be discouraged. She was already improving slowly and would continue to do so.

Sending her chakra throughout her body and healing open cuts and abrasions, Sakura sent a silent prayer for Naruto and his brilliance.

She could only imagine how much more difficult this would have been without her Jounin-level chakra coming back with her.

Thank God, for small miracles.

Not healing her sore muscles so that she wouldn't undo the hard work she'd placed into her training for the last few days, Sakura decided to postpone a shower until the morning and was knocked out the minute her head hit her pillow.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p><em>Notes:<em>

_- **Yes, the silver-haired observer was Kakashi**_

_**- About the potentially powerful and the prodigies: **_

**_Prodigies: Neji and Sasuke are at the very least considered prodigies if not highly advanced for their age. _**

**_Potentially powerful: I put Rock Lee because if he was a near master of Taijutsu by the time he was 13, all because of hard-work, you can bet he has great potential. _**

**_And Naruto? The Kyuubi is a huge power boost. He manages to master it and BAM! He becomes one of the most powerful ninja in the world._**

_**- The ass-bow: When I was first watching that particular episode, being the weird person I am, it occurred to me that Sasuke wearing that outfit looked like Orochimaru's toy. Don't know if I'm just weird or if any one else had that similar thought.**_

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p><em>Remember to review! <em>

_Thanks,_

_ShaSha_


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own Naruto.

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><p><em>"Blanket on: too hot. Blanket off: too cold. One leg out: perfect, until the demon from paranormal activity grabs it and drags you down the hall<em>."

-_Unknown_

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

* * *

><p>Sakura woke up the day of gennin graduation with a worried feeling in her belly.<p>

She had trained and trained since appearing in the past but none of it would matter if Team 7 wasn't the same.

Shaking away the bad thoughts, Sakura rose from her bed to get ready.

Twenty minutes later, she stood in front of her mirror and decided that this was as ready as she'd ever be.

She was wearing a red form-fitting yet loose enough to be comfortable t-shirt with the Haruno Clan insignia on the shoulders. The shirt was complimented with loose black pants that went to just above her ankles and her usual ninja sandals.

She also had her old standard ninja pouch. Though this time they were filled the typical medical supplies a medic-nin usually carried.

Turning to the corner of her closet where her _Hasai Kyōdo _stood_, _Sakura contemplated taking her beloved sword but in the end decided not to.

She wouldn't need it yet.

Besides it had been hard enough to sneak it past her mother the first time. The poor civilian woman would have fainted on spot if she'd seen her innocent little daughter coming downstairs with this monstrosity of a sword.

Mind made up, Sakura headed downstairs for breakfast.

Due to nerves Sakura ate very little and left, waving goodbye to her mom.

First meetings meant everything. As an apprentice to the 5th Hokage, Sakura had been expected to be present for important meetings and such and since day one Tsunade had drilled into her the saying; _first meetings are important._

And first meetings with Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye was especially important. Despite the fact that he seemed to never pay attention to anything other than his stupid porn, the man was very perceptive. Adding the sharingan into the mix made it even more dangerous.

If she were to be suspected as a infiltrated spy...

She shuddered, remembering the fates of spies that were caught and sent to Ibiki.

No, she'd have to be very careful.

Finally making it to the academy, she entered her classroom noticing that oddly enough Naruto was here early, sitting in the same row as Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan! The blonde stood up and waved cheerily. "Over here! Come sit here!

Sakura made her way over only to narrowly avoid being hip-checked by Ino.

She bemusedly glanced at the blonde girl who'd fallen on the floor.

"Er, Ino? What are you doing?"

"I was _trying_ to win the seat next to Sasuke-kun." Ino griped as she glared at Sakura who'd taken the seat as she talked.

Sakura raised her eyebrows.

"Didn't I tell you I gave up on Sasuke-kun? I'm training to be the best ninja in the world, remember?"

The pink-haired girl valiantly ignored the snort coming from Sasuke. She wouldn't punch him. Nope, her hand wasn't twitching one bit.

"Hmph. Whatever. You'll be the one admitting my superiority as the best kunoichi, Forehead."

"Sure, pig. In your dreams."

Ino huffed angrily and went to sit next to Shikamaru and Choji in the row above the possible Team 7.

Amused grin at the childish behavior of her long-time frenemy, Sakura turned just in time notice Sasuke and Naruto attempting to kill each other with their eyes, Naruto perched precariously on Sasuke's desk.

Huh, this looked familiar.

_Wait a minute. Isn't this when they..._

In what seemed like slow motion, the boy sitting in front of Naruto accidentally hit Naruto, pushing the blonde into Sasuke who didn't move away in time.

It was dead quiet. Then...

"Pfffttt."

Sakura tried. She really did. But in the end she couldn't hold it in.

"HA HA HA HA HA!"

Oh _god_, their faces. The pink-haired girl clutched her stomach, trying to breathe through her laughter.

She couldn't even get up to help Naruto as the poor boy got beaten up by nearly all the female students.

Naruto finally managed to free himself and sat, pouting, next to the still-laughing Sakura.

"It wasn't that funny, Sakura-chan!"

"Oh, yes it was." She sat back a giggle escaping every now and then. "It was _hilarious_."

Both of the boys on either side of her ignored in favor of crossing their arms and looking away.

She grinned happily. Though they'd never admit it, her boys were more alike than they thought they were.

Soon Iruka arrived and began listing off the teams.

Sakura sat up listening. Team 1 through 5 went by quickly.

_Oh, god. What if she'd disrupted the timestream somehow by just being here? What if there is no Team 7?_

"Team 7." _Here it comes_. "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."

_Hell, yeah!_

She turned and high-fived Naruto, stuck her tongue out at an angry Ino, sent a grin to Sasuke (which, predictably, was ignored) and sat back down to wait for Kakashi-sensei.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

* * *

><p>An hour later and the once again formed, even if some members weren't aware of it, Team 7 were still waiting for their tardy teacher.<p>

Ah, well it gave her time to observe her boys.

She grinned. Chibi Naruto with his incessant chattering and energy and Chibi Sasuke with his moodiness were absolutely adorably _cute_.

She inwardly wondered if they'd think it odd if she just suddenly began hugging the daylights out of them.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she noticed Naruto had already placed the chalk-board eraser on the door just as Kakashi walked in.

"Hmm. How can I put this? My first impression of you guys is... I hate you."

_Always the same._

She shook her head and followed the three guys on her team to the roof.

Sitting next to Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura waited for Kakashi to speak up.

"Alright. Why don't you introduce yourselves."

Naruto pointed. "You go first, sensei."

"I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate? I don't feel like telling you. My dreams for the future... Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, well I have lots of hobbies."

Sakura snorted at Naruto's expression. Even Sasuke looked hilariously disgruntled.

"All right. Now its your turn. You in the orange, you go."

Naruto's frown disappeared quickly.

"Believe it! I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like Sakura-chan, instant ramen and I really like Ichiraku's ramen. I hate the three minutes you have to wait for cup ramen. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. My future dream is to be the greatest Hokage ever!"

He pumped his fist in the air. "Believe it!"

Sakura inwardly sighed. Naruto never really changed.

Sasuke went next.

It was as dramatic and moody as ever. She zoned out.

"Pinky. You're up."

"Hmm? Oh. OK. Uh, I like Naruto." Naruto let out a little cheer and Sakura rolled her good-naturedly.

"I like adorable things and I enjoy baking. Oh, and I love my _Hasai Kyōdo."_

She ignored the curious looks from her team mates. They'd meet her precious sword sooner or later.

"My hobby, I guess you could say, is training. My goal is to be the next Tsunade and I'm already half-way there. And my dream... My dream is to protect all my loved ones."

"OK. We have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto stood up excitedly. "Eh?! What kind of mission?!"

With his mask, Sakura couldn't read his expression but she could practically _feel_ the evil intent behind his seemingly innocent words.

"Survival training."

Sakura shivered. How she hadn't sensed the malevolent intent behind his words the first time around she'd never know.

The silver-haired man stood up. "Well, that's it."

He turned to them once more. "Oh. Tomorrow you'd better skip breakfast. Or else."

He poofed away.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

* * *

><p>The next morning, Sakura lay in bed debating on whether or not she'd go on time.<p>

Unfortunately, before she could make the obvious decision of staying in the warmth of her bed for another hour and a half, her mother made the decision for her.

"Come on Sakura! Get up. It's your first mission today!"

Sakura seriously regretted opening her big mouth last night. There was no stopping her mother now.

"Get dressed while I go make breakfast."

The older woman left the room, leaving Sakura to force herself out of bed.

Half an hour later Sakura left the house wearing an outfit very similar to yesterday's but with a dark blue shirt instead of red.

Yawning she made her way toward Training ground 3.

The pink-haired girl arrived, only to notice Sasuke and Naruto were already there.

"Morning, guys!"

Naruto mumbled something in reply and Sasuke didn't even look at her.

She shrugged and sat down.

Ten minutes later and a bored Sakura decided to make things interesting.

"Oi! Naruto wake up!"

"Huh?" The blonde looked around sleepily.

"Lets have a three-way spar."

Sasuke snorted disparagingly.

Sakura turned toward him, her tone sickeningly sweet.

"Oh? Is little Sasuke afraid of losing to me?"

The bastard didn't even reply.

She glared. "Lets make a deal. _If_ you beat me I'll leave you alone and deal with the fan-girls if they become too much trouble."

Sasuke eyed her interested.

"You won't ask me out or bother me?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I stopped asking you out ages ago, but yes."

The raven-haired boy nodded. "Deal."

Sakura resisted the urge to cackle evilly. Poor fool.

She turned to Naruto. "You in?"

Naruto frowned. "But... Sakura-chan, I don't want to fight _you_."

Sakura forcibly pushed down the urge to punch the blonde sky-high. He wouldn't have hesitated if it was just a fight between himself and Sasuke. This idea he had at this age... That because she was a girl, she needed to protected... It made her sick.

It was part of the reason Sasuke and Naruto always saw the need to protect her.

She's just have to beat it out of them earlier, then. She couldn't let fool thoughts like that go on in their head. They'd get killed out in the field.

Gathering just enough of her chakra, she raised a glowing fist, then let it slam into a the giant boulder to the right of them.

The boulder immediately shattered into small pebbles and dust particles.

Resisting the urge to cackle madly at their widened eyes and (in Naruto's case) open mouthes, she dusted her hands and smirked at them.

"Shall we begin?"

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p><em>All the reviews from last chapter made me happy so I decided to post the next chapter earlier than intended to.<em>

**_Thoughts:_**

**_Well, I'm not really sure about this chapter. I may rewrite it. Not sure yet._****_ As for pairings, this mostly an action/adventure thing because I'm no good at writing romance but if you have any suggestions for pairings I'll consider it._**

_Enjoy and please remember to review._

_Thanks,_

_ShaSha_


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own Naruto.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p>"<em>Drawing an arrow at the bottom of your paper so that the teacher knows to flip it over. Its something everyone does at one point of their life."<em>

* * *

><p>Naruto began to back up, raising his hands in placating gesture.<p>

"Uh, Sakura-chan? You're not- not gonna hit us like that are you?"

The pink-haired girl smiled. "Don't be silly Naruto."

He relaxed.

"But I won't be going easy on you." And with a savage grin, Sakura began the fight.

Grabbing Naruto by his shirt, she swung the shocked blonde high into the air.

"Keep your guard up, Naruto!"

She zeroed in on Sasuke who narrowed his dark eyes at her and relaxed into a similar taijutsu stance taught in the academy. It was bit different. So probably an Uchiha Leaf style

Dodging his kicks, she blocked a punch, grabbed his collar and sent flying into a tree.

"Come on, Sasuke! I'm going easy on you! What happened to the Number 1 Rookie?"

Glaring at her, the dark-haired boy suddenly smirked and charged at her.

Sakura merely ducked, sent her leg in a downwards swoop and tripped him into Naruto who she had already sensed behind her.

Both untangled themselves from each other and glared at her.

"What? How'd you know I was there Sakura-chan?" Naruto demanded.

"I'm a sensor-type ninja." She lied easily only feeling slightly bad. She couldn't exactly tell them that she was actually a seasoned Jounin could she?

Sasuke charged towards sending a flurry of kicks and punches her way with amazing speed for 12 year-old.

Unfortunately for the raven-haired boy it wouldn't work on her.

She moved easily, avoiding his kicks and punches as if they weren't even there.

Sakura hit him with a light kick that sent him into Naruto again.

Proving his idiot-persona wrong, Naruto jumped out of the way and charged towards her.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Hundreds of Naruto clones came charging toward the pink haired girl all at once.

She grinned excitedly.

This was going to be _fun_.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

* * *

><p>The entire training ground was littered with holes and destroyed trees.<p>

Naruto still looked shell-shocked. "Wow, Sakura-chan. Where'd you learn all this?"

"Practice, training, and books."

The pink-haired girl sat on the floor and pulled out a water canteen.

Sasuke didn't understand how this was possible.

How could the weak fangirl improve so quickly?

Sure he'd noticed that a few months before graduation she'd suddenly stopped bothering him and he _had_ seen her more than once coming from the training grounds exhausted and looking thoroughly beaten.

But to improve enough to beat _him_? When before she didn't even have the strength to take on the timid Hyuuga girl in a monitored and timed spar?

He was one of the fastest in his year yet when he attempted to land a hit on her he couldn't.

She moved like water, easily adapting to whatever was thrown her way. To each one of his kicks and punches she just _flowed_.

She ducked, twirled, twisted, and moved so easily it was impossible to land a hit on her.

_How_?

He eyed the girl as she sat quietly sipping out of a water canteen.

"How?"

She looked up confused. "Huh? What are you taking about?"

"How did you improve so fast? You were never like this back in the academy."

The raven-haired boy crossed his arms as he glared at her. To his extreme annoyance, she merely rolled her eyes.

"Oh, stop glaring Sasuke. Your little intimidation tactics won't work on me."

Ignoring the glaring dark-haired boy and a curious Naruto, she focused on finishing off her water.

Finally she looked up.

"A few months ago I got up, looked in my mirror and decided it was time to change."

Naruto looked puzzled. "What do you mean Sakura-chan?"

She shrugged. "We were going to graduate soon and reality hit me. I only knew the academy basics, and sure I had amazing chakra control but I was more focused on my hair and looks than on learning how to fight."

The girl stretched her legs in front of her. "What kind kunoichi was I? I realized that day that if I continued like this I'd be killed my first day on a real mission."

This was all true except that she'd realized all this during the chuunin exams last time.

"So I trained and studied and trained and studied. My excellent chakra-control helped a lot especially with increasing my reserves. And I've been learning about healing and volunteering at the hospital for more practical applications. "

She flashed a smile. "That's pretty much it."

Naruto grinned excitedly. "Wow, Sakura-chan you must have trained a lot to become this good!" Sakura noticed the hurt on his face before he covered it up with a grin and winced. He probably thought she'd excluded him on purpose.

Sasuke grunted. "You improved this much by yourself?"

Sakura nodded. "I was really behind so I decided to train by myself and improve before I trained with anyone else. Otherwise I would have asked you to join Naruto."

The blonde boy smiled slightly at that. Hopefully he wasn't to irritated with her.

Massaging her feet, she grinned at the two boys. "We should all train together sometime. We'd probably learn more that way."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I have really bad chakra-control so Sakura-chan can help me with that."

Sakura nodded. "And I can use both of you to practice my healing. And both Sasuke and you can work on your taijutsu with me."

"What about your taijutsu, Sakura-chan?"

"I don't really use the academy taijutsu. I use a technique called Gouwan or "Strong-arm". Its pretty much a brawling type of taijutsu. I utilize my chakra-control and coat my muscles with enough chakra to destroy a mountain. And just punch and kick whatever comes my way. No one can really survive a punch at full strength, anyway."

Naruto look a paled and Sasuke looked as a shocked as his stoic mask would allow him.

She felt the need to add; "It's a technique developed by Tsunade Senju."

Sasuke frowned slightly. "Tsunade? You mentioned that in your introduction. Who is she?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "Don't either of you know the Legendary Sannin?"

The boys shook their heads. _What in the-? Oh, wait. I didn't know either. Not until Orochimaru-teme and Tsunade-shishou came._

"Oh, well there are three sannin level ninja that came from Konoha. They're some of the most powerful ninjas in the world. There's Jiraiya the Toad sannin, Tsunade the Slug sannin and Orochimaru the Snake sannin."

"Tsunade is also a famous medic-nin which is why I plan on surpassing her one day."

She frowned.

"Orochimaru. Well, he's kinda evil."

At the questioning looks she got she elaborated. "I don't know much but from what I read in the library he ditched Konoha and became dangerous S-classed missing-nin."

Naruto shrugged. "Who cares about him anyway? What I want to know is why the have animal names."

Sakura stifled her laughter. "It's not their names. Naruto. Those are their titles. Do you guys know what animal summons are?"

To her relief both boys nodded. "Well, Tsunade summons slugs, Jiraiya summons toads, and Orochimaru summons snakes."

"Wait. Wait." Naruto waved his hand. "Animal summons are like those contracts that you sign and you can call them to you when your fighting and stuff right?"

Sakura nodded. "Pretty much. I have a summoning scroll for birds so I can summon them whenever I want."

Naruto and Sasuke both looked surprised.

Sasuke eyed her curiously. "Summoning scrolls are hard to get by. How'd you get one?"

"Yes." A dark shadow stood over the three kids. "That's exactly what I'd like to know."

Sakura startled. "Kakashi-sensei. You were here the entire time weren't you?"

The silver-haired man eye-smiled. "Well, I wouldn't say the whole time."

She rolled her eyes."Whatever. Anyway my parents travel a lot especially my dad and on of his trips to Wind country he got ahold of a summoning scroll and he put it somewhere for me until I graduated. I just signed it recently."

This was somewhat true. Her father did travel for his job. The only thing was that her father had died when she was nine. And he'd collected so many odd things that if Kakashi decided to check on her story, her mother would probably agree.

His eye curved upward creepily. "Ah, how fascinating. Have put them in use yet?"

She shook her. "No. not yet." At least in this lifetime.

Kakashi nodded. "Ok, then. Lets get started with the test."

Sakura really hoped Kakashi believed her. She was banking on the assumption that he thought that she was merely a very talented gennin but who knew what the strange man was thinking.

She'd just have to wait it out.

"Begin!"

Realizing she'd zoned out during his explanation, Sakura ran for the cover of the trees after Sasuke.

Naruto on the other hand had stayed out in the open, confronting Kakashi confidently.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p>A few hours later the tired but satisfied trio of gennin left for home and Kakashi Hatake stood alone in the dark training ground.<p>

Naruto had definitely grown up in a strange way, that was for sure. And Sasuke was just as his file said he was.

But Sakura?

When he'd first seen the pink-haired girl he'd assumed that she was an overlooked genius.

Then he'd seen her academy file and except for exceptional chakra-control and intelligence she was pretty much mediocre, so he assumed that she'd hidden her talents.

Then today. In her words she'd only started practicing these past two-three months and improved rapidly since then.

Either she was a talented shinobi who'd unlocked her potential a bit later then usual or something else was going on here.

He'd find out either way.

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><p>(^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^) (^_^)<p>

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><p><em>READ and REVIEW por favor.<em>

_Thanks,_

_ShaSha_


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